Foodies on a Budget: 5 Tips to Get Luxury Dining for Less

Let’s face it: we’re all trying to spend less, especially with the current economy. But putting your wallet on a diet is the same as putting yourself on a diet: deny yourself all of the good stuff, and you’ll end up miserable (not to mention you’ll probably break your diet). So, what’s a foodie supposed to do in a recession? I’m offering up my favorite ways to enjoy a luxurious meal without feeling guilty about it.

Dine corkage-free at lovely Ubuntu? You can on Mondays.

1. Kick corkage to the curb. Dining out and wine go hand in hand, just as wine and an inflated bill go hand in hand.  Bring your own wine, and you’re stuck with a sizable corkage fee on your hands that’ll bump the price of your plonk to the marked-up prices of restaurant wines. So, do a little research and find the restaurants where corkage is waived. One of my favorite places to bring my own wine is Napa; I’m getting great deals on bottles right there, so why not drink them at dinner? Some of my favorites for corkage-free imbibing include Bleaux Magnolia, Ubuntu (corkage free only on Mondays, but worth the special trip for their award-winning vegetarian cuisine), and Cuvee (corkage free only on Wednesdays).
2. Small plates = big variety + small bill. I love tapas restaurants, because I get to eat a variety of foods and the portions are scaled down to a size that makes sense. Order strategically, and you could save a ton of money on the bill while getting bites of meats, cheeses, olives, vegetables, seafood, etc. A favorite in NYC for both the ambiance and the bites is Xunta. My personal favorite in San Francisco is Bocadillos (budget alert: Bocadillos has an amazing happy hour deal).
3. Prix fix. Really. Prix fix meals tend to get a bad rap because they’re only worth it if you normally eat dessert. However, there are ways to make it really work for you. Restaurants will often have prix fix specials, like Ten Tables in Boston: their Tuesday Wine Dinners get you four courses with four paired wines for $42 (their usual four course prix fix is $40). Another way to get a luxurious multi-course meal for a deal is Restaurant Week. Held in many cities worldwide, these allow restaurants to ’show off’ to new customers, and new customers to eat on the cheap. Check out NYC’s restaurant week here, Chicago here, San Diego here, Boston here, Denver here.
4. Treat the chef. It goes without saying that being friendly and generous can get you things (although that’s not why you should do it!).  Striking up a conversation about the food, the city, or the wine has gotten me a few free desserts and drinks here and there. A fellow budget foodie of mine let me in on a little gem of information regarding Chicago restaurant Home Bistro: bring the chef a six pack, and he’ll comp your starters. Add this to the fact that Home Bistro is BYO/corkage free, gives generous portions, and has a regular three course prix fixe for under $30, and you’ve got one heck of a deal!
5. Name your price. Nope, William Shatner didn’t hijack the NileGuide foodie post. If you live in or are traveling to London, Edinburgh, or Glasgow, then Priceyourmeal.com is your friend.  Priceyourmeal guarantees you’ll save money, and participating restaurants auction off meals based on date, party size, and number of courses. I haven’t given it a shot but up to 75% off a meal in these typically pricey destinations sounds like budget foodie heaven to me.

How do you manage to finance your foodie tendencies? Leave a comment or email me at foodies@nileguide.com!

Photo by star5112/ Creative Commons